Birmingham: India’s ace men’s singles shuttler P Kashyap crashed out in the first round even as men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy and women’s doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa registered hard-fought wins to progress to the second round of the All England Open badminton championships, here on Wednesday.
Up against sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, it was heartbreak for Kashyap as he surrendered tamely 21-13 21-12 in just 33 minutes to draw curtains to his campaign in the prestigious tournament.
But the highlight of the day for India was Manu and Sumeeth Reddy as the unseeded pair came from a game down to upset seventh seeded Chinese duo of Chai Biao and Hong Wei 9-21 21-17 21-17 in a 57-minute duel at the Barclaycard Arena.
Manu and Sumeeth Reddy will play the winners of the match between Indonesian pair of Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Germany’s Max Schwenger and Josche Zurwonne in the second round.
Jwala-Ashwini pair also had to sweat it out for 51 minutes to register a 21-12 2-22 21-14 win over Malaysian combination of Amelia Alicia Anscelly and Fie Cho Soong in their first round encounter.
The star India women’s doubles pair will next face top seeds Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China. The Chinese duo defeated Korea’s Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan 21-13 19-21 21-5 in another first round match.
Later in the day, India’s star shuttler Sania Nehwal will open her campaign in the women’s singles event. (PTI)
